MD Anderson President Ronald DePinho, M.D. was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences over the weekend, along with Ernie Cockrell, immediate past chairman of the Board of Visitors; and Francisco Cigarroa, M.D., UT System chancellor.

They were among 178 influential scientists, scholars, authors, artists and institutional leaders to join the academy at a ceremony in Cambridge, Mass. Other luminaries on the list included veteran diplomat Edward Djerejian of the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University; novelist Oscar Hijuelos; singer-songwriter Paul Simon; and Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots and The Kraft Group.

Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and other scholar-patriots, the academy's membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates, some 100 Pulitzer Prize winners, and many of the world's most celebrated artists and performers.